Die for lettering and ornamenting metallic articles.



@me STATES- vPctTENTy Ormes.'l

NELSON STAFFORD, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO N. STAFFORD COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW' JERSEY.

DlEl-'OR LETTI-:RING ANDUOBNAMEN/TING lilllTALLlC ARTICLES.

srncrslca'rIori` forming para of Lettere Patent tielaees, dated. December 23, 1902.

Amacai@ ne@ Jennery 1e, m02. 1 serai ne. 39,673. un motel.) A

To @ZZ whom, t 11i/ay concern:

Be it known that I, NELSON S'rAFFoRma citizen ofthe United States, residing at the.

city of New York, in the borough of Brook- 5 lyn, county of Kings, and State'iof New York,

have invented Van AImprovement in 'Dies for;

Lettering and Ornamenting Metallic Articles, of which the following is a specication.

ln the man ufacture of name-plates, badges, dre., where the lettering or design on articles of metal is to be filled in with soft lling material it has been customary to use a steel* whole surface of' the platebefore it canbe' made use of, and in doing this the metal z 5 which has been displaced in stamping is fre-V quently forced back into the openings so far as to disligure the letters or designs, and thev 1 outlines of the lettering or design are not sharp and regular, and hard-rolled metal can-V not be used successfully. The same difficul-A ties arise, particularly where hard enamel is to be used, in cases where the letters or de-L signs are sunk in a steel die and the metal forced into the die to bring the letters or design up in relief by the use of a drop-harnmer or a roller.

The object oi my inventionjis to overcmneA` these difliculties and to produce superior work in a less expensive manner.

In carrying out my invention I make use of a two-part steel die, the face of each part being cut with such parts of the letters, characters, or designs as will coact to give the desired form, the one in relief and the other depressed. The edges of the letters, characters, or designsin each section are sharp, and all the surfaces-nt each other closely, and the depth of the characters upon such die-faces is less than the thickness of the material op- 5o erated on, so that when the parts are Jforced together with a piece of metal between them plate to bulge on the back and buckle be the characters are cut into the metal and a raised'part of corresponding outline and depth is forced out at the back. For instance, where the metal to he lettered or or- /namented is one-sixteenth of an inch thick l sink the depressionsone thirty-second of an inch, so that when the two sections of the die are forced together, with the metal between them, the raised portions of the letters or de- 6o sign on the o'ne section 'penetrate the metal one thirty-second of an Yinch and force the letters or design into the depression in the other section of the die onev thirty-second of an inch, making a clean cut at the edges, leaving them sharp, without disturbing or buckling the plate, andthe inside of such letters as D and O being formed in one section of the die the same act as a punch,

passing in the depressions in the other sec- 7c tionrof the die,'thereby keeping the inside of such letters or the corresponding parts oi' any design Hush with the surface ofthe metal plate;

lt is obvious that dies constructedgas here- :in stated may be used upon acomposite sheet for inlaying metals.

In the drawings, Figure l'represents part of a plate of metal uponwhich are the letters B D O. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the 8o lupperand lower die-"sections and an intervening sheet of metal. Fig. 3 is' a section of lthe sheet of metal'after the same "hasbeen acted on by the dies. Fig. 4e is a vertical section of upper and lower die-sections and an intervening composite or two-part sheet of metal; and Fig. 5 is a section of the sheet of metal after the die-sections, Fig-4t, have acted thereon.Y

a is the upper section of the die, and b the 9o lower section.

c is the metal plate to be lettered or ornamented.

When it is desired to form letters or ornaments in the metal plate c, the said plate is placed between the upper and lower die-sections, and the two parts of lthe die are then forced together by any suitable power, when the letters or design on the one die-section penetrate the metal and force the letters or design roo into the openings in the other die-section, and the surfaces of the die-'sections contact with the metal being operated upon, making a clean cut at the edges, leaving them sharp without disturbing or buckling the plate,and the parts 2, representing the insides of such letters as the letters 13, D, and O7 or the corresponding parts of any desired design,act upon the metal plate to maintain the true even surface thereof, and the parts 3 act in a downward direction, penetrating the metal and Io forcing it into the openings 4 in the die-section, while the edges at the openings 4 act upward and simultaneously cut into the opposite face of the metal and make a clean cut at the respective edges. The metal plate t5 must in all cases be of greater thickness than the depth of the characters upon the die-faces and preferably as thick again.

It will be readily understood that when it is desired to form letters or designs in relief 2o upon the metal plate it is only necessary to reverse the arrangement of the letters or designs upon the die-sections.

It is obvious that these dies may be employed for inlaying metals, and in performing this operation I place two sheets of different metals one upon the other-say a sheet of brass e and sheet ot' copperf-which sheets may or may not be soldered together. These I place between the die-sections a b', and 3o where the sections are forced together the copper sheetf, which is preferably thinnest, is cut through, and the portions cut out are forced down into the other and preferably thicker sheet, and this sheet is forced into the opening or depressed portion in the one die-section,thus leaving the lettering or other design embedded in the sheet, the inlaying being thus accomplished by one and the same operation, it only being necessary to remove 4o the remains of the copper sheet and polish the surface to complete the work. In this composite sheet the thinner metal should be of a thickness exactly agreeing with the depth of the characters upon the surfaces of the diesections, and the other metal sheet should be appreciably thicker or approximately twice as thick, so that the thinner metal is exactly cut through and the piece forced down into the thicker piece and the under surface of the 5o thicker sheet of metal forced out or raised to a corresponding outline and extent.

With my improvement a clean cut is made at the edges, leaving them sharp and perfect I /Non both sides of the metal, and there is no spreading or thinning of the metal plate nor any buckling action whatever, and thicker and harder metals can be lettered or ornamented than has heretofore been possible.

While the foregoing description has special 6o reference to lettering or ornamenting metals, it is obvious that it would be but substitution to employ other materials to be acted upon by the same dies. In fact, I have employed such other materials as cardboard, celluloid, and other compositions in sheet form, leather, wood, and combinations thereof. These may be employed to advantage in special uses in the arts.

I claim as my inventionl. Adieforletteringor ornamenting metal, 7o consisting of two sections, the face of each section being cut with such parts of the letters, characters' or designs as will lcoact to give the desired form, the one in relief and the other depressed, and the edges of the letters, characters or designs in each section being sharp and fitting each other closely on all surfaces, and the depth of the characters upon such die-faces being less than the thickness of the material operated on so that when 8o the parts are forced together with a piece of metal between them the letters or designs are cut into the metal and a raised part of corresponding outline and depth is forced out at the back thereof, substantially as specified.

2. A die for lettering or ornamenting metal, consisting of two sections, the face of each section being cut with such parts of the letters or designs as will coact to give the desired form, the edges 0f the letters or designs 9o in each section being sharp and fitting each other closely on all surfaces, the depth of such dies being less than the material operated on, so that when the parts are forced together with a piece of metal between them the letters or designs are cut into the metal, substantially as set forth.

3. A die for lettering or ornamenting metal, consisting of two sections adapted to act upon two superimposed v strips of metal, the upper roo of which is approximately one-half the thickness of the under piece, the face of each section being cut with such parts of the letters, characters or designs as will coact to give the desired form, the one in relief and the other [o5 depressed, and the edges of the letters, characters ordesigns in each section being sharp and tting each other closely on all surfaces and tho depth of the characters upon such diefaces being less than the thickness of the lna- 11o vterial operated on, and not less than the thickness of the upper piece of metal so that when the parts are forced together with the two pieces of metal placed between the said sections the letters or designs are cut out ofthe 1x5 upper thinner strip of metal and forced down into the lower and thicker strip of metal and a raised part of corresponding outline and depth is forced out at the back thereof, substantially as specified.

Signed by me this 10th day of January, 1902.

N. STAFFORD.

Witnesses:

GEO. T. PINCKNEY, S. T. HAvILAND. 

